If you have puffy cheeks, they could be due to allergic reactions, alcohol, bulimia, wisdom tooth problem, trauma, sinus infection, among other causes. Uncover more including most of the causes and how to get rid or reduce cheek puffiness (remedies, treatments, and cures).
Puffy cheeks refer to swollen, inflated, or distended and tender cheeks which could be a result of a number of causes. This puffiness could be on one side of your cheek (left or right) or on both your cheeks, on your lower or upper cheeks (puffy cheeks under eyes) or near your ears with varying magnitude i.e. you could have cheeks that are so puffy or slight puffy.
It is not only your cheeks that can be puffy but also your face, eyes, tongue, mouth and other body parts. This problem can affect children (infants, toddlers, or babies) and adults. Most people complain or have puffy cheeks in the morning when you wake up, but this problem can also arise at night or throughout until you treat it (i.e. you could have puffy cheeks always).
Puffy cheeks symptoms
Some of the common symptoms of cheek puffiness include toothache (when caused by tooth problems), redness, rash, tenderness, soreness, lumps, itchiness, fever, sneezing, and numbness, among others. The symptoms you have will largely depend on what causes your puffiness and they could be helpful in diagnosis.
Puffy cheeks cause, why are my cheeks puffy
Knowing the right cheek puffiness cause is important in treating or reducing puffiness. There are many diseases, conditions, or disorders that could make your cheeks puffy. Some of the common causes of puffiness on cheeks include:
Wisdom teeth puffy cheeks and toothache
Dental problems such as tooth decay, dental abscess, and impacted wisdom teeth can lead to puffy or swollen cheek and toothache. Furthermore, tooth extraction, root canal, or tooth filling can cause temporary cheek puffiness or swelling.
To get rid of or reduce cheek puffiness from wisdom teeth or do away with puffy cheek toothache problem quickly, you need to consider tooth extraction, root canal, treating any infection, and trying home remedies such as sucking ice cubes, swishing salty water, among other remedies. Some of these remedies are effective and they might reduce puffiness overnight.
Blunt trauma and surgical procedures
Injuries or trauma on your cheeks can cause puffiness. Being punched, rhinoplasty, cheek piercing as well as oral surgeries can lead to bruising, puffiness, redness, pain or even mild bleeding. Such puffiness will last for a few days and can be soothed by anti-inflammatory medications as well as remedies we will discuss later.
Sinus puffy cheeks
Sinusitis is the swelling and inflammation of the sinuses lining caused by a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. When they suffer from maxillary sinusitis, it is common for “the patient feels pain or pressure in the cheek (maxillary) area” [medicalnewstoday.com] and this can lead to puffy cheeks over maxillaries.
To know your puffiness is caused by sinusitis, you are bound to have other sinusitis symptoms such as facial pressure and pain, congestion, cough, blocked nose, halitosis, toothache, fever, loss of sense to smell, among others.
Puffy cheeks alcohol
Alcohol consumption is a known cause of puffed cheeks as well as the face. When you consume alcohol, it makes your body dehydrated and the body responds by storing more water including on your face and cheeks and thus you get puffiness on your cheeks, face, and other body parts.
Puffy cheeks allergies
Allergic reactions to food, pet dander, mite dust, medication, insect stings, pollen, latex, and other allergen are known to cause not just a puffy face but also cheek and eye puffiness. To avoid cheek puffiness due to allergic reactions, you need to consider the counter antihistamine, prescription-strength antihistamines, and avoid contact with allergens.
Cheek puffiness during Pregnancy
During pregnancy, especially during the third trimester, some women tend to suffer from puffy or swollen cheeks and/or face, ankles, feet, etc. This could be attributed to many reasons among them the production of more fluids and blood required for child growth and development.
Puffy cheeks bulimia or bulimia puffy chipmunk cheeks
Bulimia is a psychological eating disorder that is characterized by episodes of binge eating (consuming a large quantity of food in one sitting) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as vomiting, fasting, enemas, excessive use of laxatives and diuretics, or compulsive exercising.
Bulimia is known to cause gastric reflux (that will erode your teeth), swollen salivary glands and puffy or swollen cheeks. Bulimia cure will involve behavioral change therapies, stress management as well as the use of antidepressants. For bulimia puffiness go away completely, you need to be patient since it can take up to 3 months once you beat bulimia.
Other causes of puffy cheeks
- Playing musical instruments – Playing musical instruments such as trumpets can lead to cheek puffiness. One case worth mentioning is Dizzy Gillespie, often referred as to a puffy cheek trumpet player. Many trumpet players have also reported mild puffiness of cheeks each time they played the trumpet for a long time.
- Mumps
- Swollen salivary glands
- Swollen cheek lymph nodes
- Angioedema
- Severe malnutrition
- Stye especially for cheek puffiness under eyes.
- Obesity and face fat
- Dehydration
These are some of the common causes of cheeks that are puffy. There could many other causes. It is advisable to seek medical help in case you do not know what could be behind your cheek puffiness.
Puffy cheekbones or Puffiness of cheeks under eyes
Sometimes, cheek puffiness might be located on your cheekbones especially puffy upper cheekbones (puffy cheeks under eye) which could be read at times. This can be caused by a number of things that include stress, cheekbone injuries, sinusitis, among other causes.
Furthermore, puffiness of cheeks under the eyes (or on cheekbones) can be due to malar bags or edema, smoking, allergic reactions, or by inheritable factors (genetics). To treat or get rid of puffy cheeks under the eyes try laser treatment, under skin cauterization, among other treatments.
Red puffy cheeks
Red puffiness on cheeks or cheekbone is common in toddlers (children) as well as adults. It is commonly caused by an allergic reaction, a rash, malar edema, being hit by blunt objects or trauma, etc. In toddlers, the problem has been associated with teething.
How to get rid of puffy cheeks or how to reduce
How do you get rid of cheek puffiness or how do you reduce puffy cheeks? The best and most advisable way is to deal with this problem is to treat the underlying cause. This means getting the right diagnosis before you begin treatments, cures or any of the many home remedies. For instance, how you will treat puffiness from bulimia might be different from one caused allergy or wisdom tooth. Some of the popular ways to slim down cheek puffiness include:
- Head elevation using pillows during your sleep if you often have puffiness in the morning.
- Applying cold compresses using ice packs or ice wrapped in a clean piece of cloth or towel to constrict vessels and soothe any pain (numbing effect).
- Applying tea bags on the affected area since caffeine in tea will cause constriction of blood vessels on the surface of your cheek and thus reduce puffiness. It will also help reduce inflammation. For more benefits about choosing a caffeine solution, you can read on Vivarin.
- Use of cold cucumber slices on the affected area that reduces swelling and soothes your cheeks.
- Regular moderate aerobic exercise can help flush out any fluid accumulation on your cheeks, burn stored fats, and cause general weight loss.
- Ensure you eat a balanced diet (with complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and vitamins) with less simple carbohydrates (especially soft drinks, baked foods, candy, white flour, etc. since they increase water retention.).Furthermore, eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (such as salmon, flaxseed, or walnut) since they can help reduce cheek redness and puffiness as well as irritate the skin, according to “Reader’s Digest” magazine.
- Reduce salt consumption, limiting it to 2300 mg per day or slightly above 11/8 of a teaspoon a day. The ideal amount of salt should be ¾ of a teaspoon as per FDA recommendations.
- Use antibiotics, antivirals, and antifungal medications if the problem is caused by any of those germs respectively. Anti-inflammatory will be handy in relieving inflammation and pain while antihistamines would be for allergy caused puffiness.
These are some of the easy home remedies to lose puffiness on your cheeks. It is time to look at ways to gain puffiness on your cheeks or get cheek puffiness for those who want them.
How to get puffy cheeks
If you would get cheeks that are puffy, there are many ways to go about it that include face or cheek exercise, pinching your cheeks, face yoga, moisturizing your cheeks, scrubbing your cheeks with sugar and shea butter scrub, eating apples, applying aloe vera, cosmetic surgeries, injections, among others.